


A Great Day

by jarynw02



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: A Day In The Life Of Bokuto Koutarou, Anxiety Attacks, Bokuto Antics, Bokuto Hilarity, Bokuto Koutarou Being Bokuto Koutarou, Character Study, Friends to Lovers, General shenaningans, Happy Ending, LITERALLY, M/M, Mutual Pining, That's the point of the whole fic, Wow, explicit hand holding, wild
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:46:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23811040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jarynw02/pseuds/jarynw02
Summary: He smiles.Akaashi barely sighs. “Good morning, Bokuto-san.”Bokuto throws an arm across Akaashi’s shoulders, pleased with the easy contact as he lugs him along, making his way to the locker rooms with the others.“It’s gonna be a great day, Akaashi.”
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji & Bokuto Koutarou, Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou
Comments: 9
Kudos: 243





	A Great Day

**Author's Note:**

> So I just threw this up today. 
> 
> Welcome.
> 
> ....hope you like it.

The funky beat of his alarm sinks into the fog of blankets curled around his face, breaths passing in slow motion before he realizes it’s morning. Rolling through the tangle of sheets, Bokuto pats a hand around blindly searching for the source of the ironically chosen song to silence his phone. Notifications greet him the moment his thumb presses ‘cancel’ and his mood for the day is already lifted. 

Shifting in the dark, he reads. 

**Yukie - Boss Lady:** _ Think we can meet before practice in the morning? If not maybe in the evening afterward? We’re hosting training camp again. _

**BRO:** _ You ever wonder if our pets are happy? Like… what if my cat would have a much better life if I set her free, you know?  _

**BRO:** _ On second thought please forget I said anything _

**BRO:** _ Because Kenma thinks Im literally a psychopath now _

**BRO:** _ Unless…….you agree w me, bro?? _

**Akaaaaaaaashi Keiji:** _ Are you still awake? _

His mind pauses on the last text, reading and rereading it over and over again. The room is quiet and only lit from the bright screen focused on his face. His parents are still sleeping, though his mom will be up soon. If he stares at his messages much longer, his whole day will be behind, but he can’t help it. A smile tugs at his lips, the muscles stiff from sleep. With one last read through the texts, he decides to answer them later (read: when it’s not the asscrack of the morning) and clears his social media notifications. 

Ignoring the protests from his joints, he drags his body up out of bed and searches for the headband Kaori gave him last year he’d discarded…somewhere. Giving up, he throws on a pair of shorts over the briefs he’d slept in and grabs mismatched socks only finding the missing headband when he made a quick bathroom break. After a quick glass of water downstairs, he creeps out of the front door as soundlessly as he can manage. His stretches are a blur of memorized movement in his driveway before he sets off at a brisk pace, tiny hitches of anticipation rising in the peak of his chest like the bursts of sparklers in the summer. 

It’s hard to keep his mind away from the text messages this morning. 

One in particular. 

He tries to think of planning training camp with Yukie and Kaori. They’ll need to arrange mealtimes with the school and coordinate donations from their school and the others to provide the materials. Did Yukie already have a date? Kuroo would have probably mentioned it if the news had already spread to the other schools. 

Bokuto is grateful for Kuroo. 

Dumb texts like his from last night are a light in a sometimes shadowy place. All the jokes aside, Bokuto sees Kuroo’s texts as a reminder that he’s always there. He should come up with something clever to say in response… but, like, what if pets  _ would _ be happier set free?

Fuck. 

And then there’s Akaashi. 

Akaashi Keiji. 

Fuuuuck. 

Bokuto knows it’s silly -- the bubbling in his chest at the thought of his setter -- but he can’t really help himself.

He likes Akaashi. 

He likes a boy.

He’s known it from the first time he saw him and the feeling only intensified after Akaashi agreed to set for him. Then came the jokes and jibes. Bokuto says something doofy just to rile up a reaction from Akaashi and it takes surprisingly little for his new friend to jump on the opportunity. But when Akaashi faced Bokuto’s shut down mode for the first time and managed to kindle inspiration in him, Bokuto knew he was done for. 

Because Bokuto doesn’t just… snap out of it. 

Not unless Akaashi is around. 

But the topic of his ‘moods’ isn’t really on his agenda today after waking up to  _ three  _ different people texting him. Today is going to be a great day. 

He can feel it. 

As if he’d planned it, the moment Bokuto steps foot atop the hill that separates the baseball and soccer fields a few blocks from his house the sun rises. Light cracks the sky open, life spilling out into the darkness in shades of bright orange and yellow. The anticipation in his chest blossoms fully, a smile spreading across his cheeks until it hurts. 

Yeah, today’s gonna be a good day. 

His run winds him through his neighborhood and two others to the south. The course was charted for him by a friend on the soccer team who uses the fields at the park for practice sometimes. It’s a little longer than what Bokuto might need to train for volleyball, but he doesn’t mind. The sunrise is worth the extra effort, even if he tends to oversleep and miss it from the peak of the hill or sometimes sleeps through his first alarm completely. 

The way back is uneventful, but refreshing. As always, the first precious minutes of sun-up is as soothing as cold water crashing through him during the third set of a match. The air is so thin, so soft. Kissing his skin, he thinks, and the film of sweat across his bare torso does little to hinder the pleasant feeling. 

He’s not as quiet coming back inside, knowing that his mom is awake and likely making herself breakfast. His dad won’t wake up until they’ve both already gone. She doesn’t say good morning and neither does he. 

Tossing his headband across the room haphazardly, he discards his shorts on the floor and makes for the shower. Once he has his hair managed and a new set of clothes on, he shuffles through the lit, empty kitchen to dig for something to eat on the train ride to school. 

Chewing, he steps aboard. He will always prefer to stand in case someone needs to sit more than he does just like he will always only wear a single earbud in case anyone wants his attention. Opening his locked phone with a swipe, he replies to Yukie with, ‘ _ Probably won’t get to school early enough….SORRY. Lunch?? After afternoon practice???”  _ and then to Kuroo with, ‘ _ bro why you gotta fuck w my mind SO EARLY wtf … #freemittens _ ’. 

He stares at Akaashi’s text a bit longer, taking another bite of a rice cake and already thinking about peeling the banana in his pocket. 

Akaashi doesn’t text him often and as far as texts go… he’d basically sent him a ‘u up’ text -- very  _ not  _ Akaashi. Is he okay? Was he upset about something last night? And Bokuto slept right through it? Maybe he needed help with something… Well, Bokuto was probably the last person Akaashi would turn to for help. 

Could Akaashi have just wanted to talk to him?

Bokuto doesn’t respond until he’s taken a bite of banana, the distance between him and Fukurodani diminishing quickly. 

‘ _ SO SORRY. I was asleep already. Everything ok Akaashi? _ ’ 

A text from Kuroo pops up at the top of his screen. 

**BRO:** _ not you too… i guess i gotta tell my mom mittens deserves liberation. _

Bokuto has to immediately shut down the desire to tell Kuroo about the training camp plans. He’s glad that his team sees him in a goofy light, their smiles (even if they’re always accompanied with eye rolls) are enough to keep momentum and spirit on their side, but he does take being captain seriously. 

And Bokuto is proud to be captain.

Even if he sometimes wonders if everyone else feels differently.

After a quick check of his Facebook and Instagram notifications, he opens Snapchat to take a quick picture of his feet with the tarnished metal of the floor and the shoes of the passengers around him to send to his streaks with a vague good morning message. Kuroo - 128. Konoha - 78. Komi - 82. Kaori - 101. Jirou from the baseball team - 40. Aiko who sits near him in class - 61. Shouji, this guy he met in detention one time -- he’s hilarious - 13. 

Surprisingly, his longest streak is with Kenma (184), though they never carry on a conversation. Bokuto sends a picture of his train ride every morning and Kenma sends a blurry picture of a screen in the dark late at night, though every once in a while there’s a selfie from Kuroo instead. 

He checks to see if Akaashi has replied despite the lack of a notification and is disappointed, but not defeated. Something about today just feels  _ good _ . 

When the train stops again, he makes himself wait to move until the doors open and others have a chance to escape first, though his eager muscles are twitching to jump ahead. Tightening his hold on his bag, he takes off toward the school in a jog, only slowing when the gym comes into view along with a few teammates. 

“Sarukui! Washio!” he grins, calling out to them even as he runs past them. 

The sigh from Washio is smaller today and Bokuto turns to face them, even as he continues moving at a faster pace than the other third years. Sarukui, surprisingly, has a smile waiting for him and Bokuto’s broadens.

“Good moooorning!” 

“Morning, Captain,” they chorus, amusement lilting their tones.

Yep. Today is going to be a great day. 

“Awwww, you guyyyys,” Bokuto draws out until he slams into a hard surface, barely catching himself from toppling over.

Akaashi looks down on him disapprovingly. “You shouldn’t get so excited over basic human kindness, Bokuto-san.”

“Akaaaashi,” Bokuto whines through his grin that nothing could chase away at this point. He straightens to full height and Akaashi looks away, his moment of superiority over. “It was nice, that’s all!” Bokuto gestures to where Washio and Sarukui are taking their time walking around them toward the locker room. “They’re happy to see me!”

“They just said good morning.”

“Akaaaaaashi! Take my side just one time!” 

“Bokuto-san, there are no sides. You’re getting worked up over saying good morning.”

“But it’s a big deal! They love me!”

“It’s a common greeting.”

They’re looking at each other now, the tension in their eyes too light to be glaring and Bokuto revels in it. He knows Akaashi is teasing him, really he does. He and Akaashi are friends, at least when it comes to volleyball. He knows that Akaashi likes to play with him like this and it honestly warms his heart to have someone so stoic enjoy interacting with him in any way that could be considered playful. 

Still, sometimes, he wonders. 

But he shakes away the feeling, instead holding on to the idea that he’s special for earning Akaashi’s attention. 

“Does that mean you’ll tell me good morning, too, Akaashi?” He can’t help it when the name slips off his tongue another time -- he just loves the way it feels. 

Akaashi regards him with the same apathetic eyes Bokuto sees every day and he reminds himself of their first real win together last year, of Akaashi’s face as he bent in a victory yell alongside Bokuto. 

He smiles. 

Akaashi barely sighs. “Good morning, Bokuto-san.”

Bokuto throws an arm across Akaashi’s shoulders, pleased with the easy contact as he lugs him along, making his way to the locker rooms with the others. 

“It’s gonna be a great day, Akaashi.”

The warmth that feels like it physically expands his chest is familiar when Bokuto sees the rest of his team already gathered and waiting for him. His eyes flit over them: wing spiker, libero, middle blocker, wing spiker, setter; dependable, courageous, supportive, daring, in control. One by one, he reminds himself how each piece of them comes together -- even Akaashi side by side before them. 

He’s so grateful. 

“Alright, everybody! Good morning!” 

Akaashi makes a noise beside him and a few others groan. 

“Why are you like this?” Konoha says, leaning on Sarukui for support. “It’s so early.”

Washio shoots him a look. “You should really be used to this by now, you know.”

“Bokuto or the morning practices?” Sarukui says, his head falling atop Konoha’s.

Komi stands at the ready, arms crossed. “Both.”

“Sweet!” Bokuto claps, startling Konoha which knocks off Sarukui and a few first years jump. “Coach won’t be here ‘til this afternoon, so we’re gonna condition this morning.”

More groaning.

“You all whine about not having girlfriends and now we try to get you in shape and this is the thanks we get?” Akaashi smarts. 

Bokuto mentally writes down that Akaashi said ‘we’. 

Twice.

The complaining quiets and everyone seems to be having a hard time choosing whether to avoid the gaze of their captain or vice-captain, but Bokuto doesn’t mind.

“So ten laps for warm-up! Akaashi, wanna lead stretching today?”

“Sure, Bokuto-san.”

“And then pair off for some pepper before we all meet on the line for the good stuff, yeah?”

“Yes, Captain,” everyone says in unison.

Bokuto notes that Komi was the first to lead the affirmation. 

“Sweet! Let’s go! Who thinks they can beat me today?”

Groaning.

“Whoever finishes warm-up laps first and whichever pair has the longest pepper can sit out of the last suicide!”

The team stampedes through the door, shoving past Bokuto and Akaashi who is giving his captain an exasperated look. 

“You just  _ have  _ to encourage them.”

“That’s my job, Akaashi!” he grins, bouncing easily into a run. “Besides, they’re still gonna run the hill too.”

“And they think you’re the nice, fun one.”

“Hey!” he reaches for Akaashi’s bobbing shoulder beside him. “You’re nice too.”

Akaashi swipes the hand away. 

“And fun!!”

Yukie and Kaori mingle through the doorway into the gym sometime between the second and fourth laps and Bokuto watches the boys all straighten up ahead of him. Usually, Akaashi hangs around the rear of the pack while Bokuto leads, but after Akaashi’s text last night he finds himself lingering near him in case he’s looking to talk. Though when it starts to become clear that he’s going to do no such thing, Bokuto can’t help himself. 

“Akaashi?”

“Yes, Bokuto-san.”

“Did you need something last night?”

Akaashi’s eyes flit to him before Komi and Konoha start roughhousing at the front of the misshapen line to war for first place and steal his attention. Akaashi mutters under his breath, “Ridiculous.”

Bokuto doesn’t take his eyes off Akaashi who eventually remembers how stubborn Bokuto can be when he’s eager. 

Bokuto likes to think it’s a positive trait.

“Not really,” Akaashi finally says as they turn the starting corner for the fifth time.

There’s a pause.

“So,” Bokuto says, “you’re okay?”

Now Akaashi looks at him. “What?”

“I thought maybe something was wrong?”

“No,” Akaashi says, looking away again. “No, nothing’s wrong, Bokuto-san.”

He uses his name as if to prove his statement. 

Hmm.

“Soooo.”

Akaashi sighs.

“You just wanted to talk?” 

They turn another corner.

“To me?”

“Yes, Bokuto-san.”

One heartbeat passes. Then two. Three.

“Wow, Akaashi! Really?!” Bokuto jumps in his run.  _ Akaashi just wanted to talk to him.  _ Of course he’d been asleep. “You don’t hate me?!”

Akaashi only blinks. “No, I don’t hate you.”

But Bokuto swears he heard an almost-chuckle. 

“Does that mean you wanna hang out with me after practice?”

“I already hang out with you after practice.”

“Helping me practice my spikes doesn’t count, Akaashi.”

Washio yells at Konoha and Komi up ahead. Sarukui laughs and Washio smacks the back of his head. 

“Sure.”

Bokuto bows his head to watch the line of the next corner on the court as they pass over it. “Are you sure? Because I guess we do already see each other a lot with morning practice, afterschool practice, and extra--”

“I already said sure, Bokuto-san.”

Bokuto charges his biggest smile for Akaashi. “Great! See, I told you it was gonna be a good day.”

“A great day.”

“Yes!” he says, excited now. “Now, sorry but, I gotta go kick their asses.”

“By all means.”

With two laps left, Bokuto steps up his jog to weave through the team and only pulls ahead of Komi and Konoha as they head into the final. Jeering shouts rolling off him in waves, he pounds every step into the gym floor as his team buckles down to try and destroy him. 

It’s a good feeling. 

“Bokuto!” Komi shouts, high off his almost victory while Konoha glares at them both with his hands on his knees. “Partner with me!” 

Bokuto curves his walk, unwilling to come to a stop after a sprint, and puts an arm around the much shorter libero. “Ah, Komi,” he whispers conspiratorily. “How about you pair with Onaga, eh? Help with his receives a bit and get him popping some spikes for you?” 

Komi eyes him. “Sure, Cap.”

Bokuto claps him on the back before hunting down Anahori who, as usual, is hiding around Akaashi. He approaches them with outstretched arms. 

“Akaaaaashi! Stop hogging the first-year setter!”

Akaashi smirks, touching Anahori’s shoulder with a hand. “He’s all yours.”

After twenty minutes of bump-set-pass drilling and another twenty minutes of both indoor and outdoor sprints, the team grumbles their way toward the showers to prepare for the school day. 

“Oho? Ohohooo?” Bokuto wiggles his eyebrows as he walks across the court to the single bench set up near the entrance. 

Kaori grins and shakes her head while Yukie gives him an unamusedly amused expression with tight lips. 

“Great job, Bokuto-san,” Kaori relents. 

Yukie elbows her. “You’re encouraging him.”

“But he deserves it! He didn’t even hog Akaashi-san all practice.”

“I’m sure that’ll change this afternoon.” Yukie’s eyes sparkle and Bokuto tries to ignore the fluttering sensation her insinuation gives him, especially knowing Akaashi is right behind him. 

“Well, we don’t want to throw off the whole team dynamic, do we?” Kaori says, brows raised. 

“Bokuto-san decided to mentor this morning,” Akaashi’s voice comes over his shoulder. “It was a good decision.”

Bokuto whips around at the praise. “You noticed Akaashi?!”

Akaashi nods.

Bokuto preens. 

“You guys okay with meeting here for lunch to talk plans?” Yukie asks and both boys nod. “Cool. We’ll both be here.”

“Thanks, Yukie!” Bokuto says, smiling as both Yukie and Kaori stand and make their leave. “You too Kaori! You’re both amazing!” 

Heads whip back inside the locker room doorway as Bokuto and Akaashi turn back toward the showers. 

“So, did you miss me today, Akaashi? Hm?!”

To his surprise, Akaashi turns to him with a reluctant smile. “Of course, Bokuto-san.”

He’s still smiling as he finds his seat in class twenty minutes later. 

Before he promptly falls asleep draped across his desk until Kugiri wakes him up two classes later to save him from the teachers who take their jobs a little more seriously than the previous. After a brief, ‘thanks man’ and taking pictures of his friend’s notes, he doesn’t receive another respite until the following break when Aiko turns around.

“Bokuto, have you talked to her?”

Yawning, he tips his head. “Who?”

“Seriously?!” 

Ahh, yeah. He was supposed to talk to Kaori for Aiko. Oops. 

“Oooooh, no. Sorry. I forgot.”

“C’mon!” the smaller boy says. He’s in the debate club, but used to play baseball and Bokuto thinks he and Jirou are friends too. “You gotta help me. A girl like that won’t go for a basic confession!”

Bokuto pinches his lips in thought. “I dunno, man. She might. She’s pretty chill.”

“Exactly.  _ To you _ . Which is why you should talk to her for me.”

He scratches his temple. “Or maybe you should just talk to her?”

“Ugh,” Aiko huffs. “Why do you always act like everything is so easy?”

“Not  _ everything  _ is easy,” Bokuto objects. “But talking is. You wanna talk to her? Just talk to her. Not that hard!”

“Maybe for you,” Aiko grumbles as the chime sounds and he turns back in his seat. 

His last subject before lunch is math. 

His worst subject.

And honestly, he really tries to take notes and pay attention… but there are literally  _ millions  _ of things he’d rather be doing right now. Just imagining the sunrise from this morning makes him want to be outside. He could be at a park right now. Oh, he could be playing volleyball at a park right now. With Akaashi! That would be fun. Maybe they could plan a team picnic or something where they all lay down blankets and eat food and play volleyball. Washio would probably grill if he asked him to. 

Grilling!

They need to grill at some point during the training camp. 

He’ll have to bring it up to Yukie and Kaori at lunch. 

He’s already thinking about seeing Akaashi again. The pretty setter’s eyes pop into his mind at random times throughout the day and, at first, he thinks Akaashi would find that fact slightly alarming, but the more he wonders about it the more he thinks maybe Akaashi would find it endearing. Maybe he should just tell him. Who doesn’t like to hear nice things about themselves? Even if Akaashi thinks he’s annoying or weird for it, it would probably still make Akaashi feel good, so whatever. 

He has a tendency to do that: make other people find him obnoxious or annoying or super weird when he’s just trying to make people laugh or smile. But it’s alright.

Bokuto’s used to being too much.

Too much and yet not enough. 

The chime for lunch rings and Bokuto feels a little heavier than before as he slides out of his chair. He doesn’t pack a lunch because he doesn’t have the patience to make himself a bento and his parents would rather pass off a little money at the beginning of the week than make him anything throughout. So he makes his way to the cafeteria, slipping his phone out along the way. 

And he knows he shouldn’t jump the gun, but he can’t help needing to see Kuroo’s excitement right now, so he sends a quick ‘ _ guess HOO’S hosting training camp again soon…. _ ’ before tucking his phone away without any authority figures noticing. 

“Bokuto-san!” a high-pitched bell of a voice chirps.

He’s already grinning when he turns his head. “Komi-chan!” 

Even tinier than her older brother, she’s light as a feather when she flings herself into his arms, a dramatic hand palm-up on her forehead as she fake swoons while he spins her around. “I’ve missed you, so~!”

“No more than I’ve missed you, sweet Ami-chan!” he parodies back to her, slow and dramatic. 

A long sigh follows behind them. “Do you guys have to do that every time?” 

They burst into hysterics, Ami quickly tumbling away from Bokuto’s embrace as she holds her stomach in laughter. Bokuto’s grin splits his face at the antics. He loves the joke of it and the friendship it makes him feel with his libero and his little sister send him over the moon. It’s a special sort of prank between them. It makes Bokuto feel special. 

That’s not pathetic, right?

“Aww, Haru, are you jealous?” Ami taunts, crossing her arms in a way that very much resembles her brother despite the two years difference. “I’m sure Bokuto-san would catch you if you ran into his arms too.”

“I’ll swing you and everything,” Bokuto adds. 

“Oh, fuck you, Bokuto,” Komi snaps, albeit half-heartedly. “You too Ami. Get your own friends.”

Bokuto brings a hand to his heart. “Komi, we’re friends?” 

Komi flips him off. 

Bokuto wipes a fake tear from his eye, sniffling. 

“Well,” Ami says, watching her brother disappear into the lunchroom, “you hungry?”

Bokuto holds out his elbow. “When am I not?”

“Fair point well made,” she replies, tucking her arm in his to follow him into the line. 

Ami’s friend Kiko joins them and Bokuto is grateful for her sense of humor being just as excessive as theirs. She laughs even more than Ami -- if that’s possible! Komi is grumbling in front of them for a while before he finally warms up to becoming a part of the group when Sarukui sneaks into the line with them. 

By the time that Bokuto’s made it all the way through he’s also talked to Daikiro, his friend from the soccer team who mapped out his run (He’s doing well adjusting from his middle back position to the more stamina-demanding right wing position.), Jirou and Aiko (Jirou is trying to convince Aiko to rejoin the baseball team, Bokuto encouraged this.), and a girl named Saru randomly introduced herself to him but seemed to lose interest in conversation when Ami and Kiko started to ask her questions. 

Girls are weird. 

“Are you going to sit with us, Bokuto-san?” Kiko asked politely, Ami smiling gaudily next to her. 

“Oi, chance ball!” Konoha snickers as he steps out of line a few places behind them and catches up with Komi and Sarukui. 

“Ah! Well, I-- Ow! Ow!” Bokuto’s hands fly to his ear to swipe away the hand suddenly latched onto it. 

“Bokuto-san has a volleyball meeting,” Akaashi says gracefully, still tugging on Bokuto. “Sorry.”

“Akaaaaaashi!” Bokuto whines, barely managing to balance his untouched meal. 

“Let’s go,” Akaashi says, relenting.

Bokuto rubs his ear soothingly and waves to his friends with a semi-pained smile. “Maybe tomorrow!” 

“Bye, Bokuto-san!” 

Once his ear has stopped throbbing, Bokuto steps up beside Akaashi amiably. “I’m sorry, Akaashi! I forgot! Class was sooooo boring and then me and Ami-chan do this prank on Komi all the time and then her friend came around and then more of my friends kept coming up to me and I promise I didn’t mean to forget! Really!”

“I believe you,” Akaashi says looking straight ahead and Bokuto relaxes. “I didn’t mean to intrude on your flirting but I’m sure they’ll be waiting for you tomorrow.”

Bokuto’s mouth pops open and his steps stutter beneath him. “Flirting?”

Akaashi raises a brow at him. 

“I wasn’t flirting, Akaashi!” Bokuto defends himself. Because, really, Bokuto has no idea how to flirt -- not on purpose. If he did then surely Akaashi would have figured out his big gay crush on him by now. “I swear!” 

Akaashi hums. “Well, you might not be flirting, but they are.”

Bokuto stops for a second, blinks, then hops back to Akaashi’s side. “What? No way. That’s Ami! That’s Komi’s little--”

“Yep.”

“Nooooo.”

“Yes, Bokuto-san.”

His head drops back, mouth falling open as he stares at the open sky while they walk toward the gym. “Ughhhh, no! I need to talk to Komi.”

“I doubt that would be helpful.”

“But does he think I’m flirting with his sister? I’m not flirting with his sister! She’s just my friend! We like being goofy!”

Akaashi hums again and Bokuto groans. 

Yukie and Kaori are waiting for them in the gym, their bentos in their laps as they sit against the wall. Akaashi unwraps his own as Bokuto sets down his tray in the middle of their ill-formed circle on the gym floor. 

“I’m sorry we’re late guys!” Bokuto says quickly, dipping his chin in a semblance of a bow. “It’s my fault! Don’t blame Akaashi!” 

The girls giggle and Bokuto loosens up. They’re not upset with him. 

“It’s alright, Bokuto-san. But how about we plan another meeting at the end of the week before morning practice and get together on Sunday as well, hmm?” Yukie suggests, her voice even and ever-calm. 

Bokuto smiles at her. “Okay, Yukie!” After a quick bite, he adds, “That’s perfect, Akaashi. It won’t cut into our extra practice at all!” 

Kaori grins.

“That’s true,” Akaashi says and a part of Bokuto knows it’s stupid, but hearing Akaashi agree with him quiets something restless in him. 

“Well,” Yukie says, pushing away her half-eaten lunch, “Coach Yamiji gave us the dates for the training camp and it’s only a month away so we have our work cut out for us with planning.”

“Teams will finance their own accommodations, but we will provide lunches every day and plan any additional activities--”

“And the punishments!” 

“Yes, Bokuto,” Kaori agrees. “And the punishments. Though I think you and Akaashi-san can decide on those together.”

Bokuto rubs his hands together enthusiastically. “Oh, Akaashi, this is going to be great!” 

“Who’s the nice one again?” Akaashi says to no one in particular.

Still, Bokuto answers him. 

“You, of course,” he says with a toothy grin and a thumbs up.

“So, boys. Any ideas?” Yukie asks as Kaori continues in on her food. 

Bokuto devours his, vaguely forgetting he even ate a banana and rice cake this morning. What kind of breakfast was that? He needs to learn to smuggle things out of the kitchen a little better in the mornings. Or maybe he can convince Coach Yamiji to let him put a mini-fridge in the locker rooms so he can stash snacks here. But then the guys will probably go through it and eat all his food. Do they make small fridges with locks on them? He can probably rig something together with a… what are those locks called that hang on things? Akaashi probably knows.

He looks up to see three faces watching him incredulously. Reaching down for another bite to distract himself from the blush he feels creeping up his neck, he realizes all his food is gone. 

Great. 

“Er, what’s up?”

“Are you eating properly, Bokuto-san?” Akaashi asks, genuinely concerned and Bokuto’s heart jumps. 

Kaori laughs. “Or do you just burn that many calories with all that energy of yours?”

Bokuto resists the urge to place a hand on his stomach. “Uh, neither?”

“You’re not eating well?”

“What? No?”

“Bokuto-san.”

Now Akaashi sounds serious.

“No! No. I’m getting my words messed up!” he urges. 

Akaashi gives him another hum like before and Bokuto sighs, looking away. 

What was he going to ask him?

“Oh! I had an idea earlier!”

Yukie tilts her head expectantly. 

“Well, I was in class and math is really boring so I was thinking about going outside and playing volleyball and--”

“Bokutoooo.”

“Sorry, Kaori! Okay, so let’s do a barbecue!”

Yukie huffs. “You just love meat.”

“True!” Bokuto confirms. “Which means tons of other people probably do too, right?!” 

“Great idea, Bokuto-san.”

“You think so, Akaashi?”

Akaashi nods. 

“Ha!” Bokuto cheers. “I’m so good at this.”

“Does that mean you’re going to figure out who’s going to cook it while you’re playing volleyball?” Yukie asks and Bokuto can tell she’s not trying to be harsh with him or make him feel stupid, but it still kills his high a little bit. 

He sits back and mumbles his ascent. 

Akaashi starts, “We can both fig--”

Whispers cut in, echoing from the doorway through the wide expanse of the gym. Girly whispers. Dangerous. Bokuto looks over at Yukie and Kaori to see if they know what’s going on as the whispers continue in some indistinguishable argument. The girls both frown and look between him and Akaashi. 

Akaashi practically snarls toward the door. “If these are more girls come to declare their love for you, Bokuto-san, I  _ swear _ \--”

Bokuto doesn’t get to mention that Akaashi gets more confession letters than he does (--even though he really doesn’t want to talk about that,  _ ugh, why is he so pretty? _ ) because the sound of footsteps begins to shuffle closer and Bokuto starts to become legitimately concerned for what the fuss is all about.

“Maybe I should go make sure they’re okay?”

“Yeah, no,” Yukie says before sharing a glance with Kaori who blinks before nodding with a smile that only turns up on one cheek. 

Also dangerous. 

Kaori reaches out for Bokuto beside her, yanking him by the arm until he slides across the gym floor next to her -- more proof that the Fukurodani managers are dangerous. Their backs are both against the wall, shoulders touching. She doesn’t remove her hand and Yukie does the same to Akaashi, only she intertwines their fingers. 

Akaashi looks deeply inconvenienced. 

Bokuto can’t seem to look away from the way Akaashi’s long fingers look wrapped around someone else’s but then Kaori turns toward him and starts to smile like a crazy person, quickly distracting him. Now, Bokuto has known Kaori for a little over two years now and they do have a pretty significant Snapchat streak and had one small incident during a game of spin the bottle at the beginning of their first year, but Kaori is chill. 

This is not chill. 

What is she--

Oh. 

The shuffling by the door has stopped and two girls have appeared before them, fingers tight around folded pieces of paper. 

“Ah, uh,” one of them with red hair stumbles over her words. 

The taller one with her puts a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “We are  _ so  _ sorry.”

“Y-yeah.”

“Didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“Oh?” Yukie says, her tone thick and… weird. 

“Um,” the redhead stammers while the taller drags her away, calling out behind them.

“Enjoy your lunch!” 

Even after a few breaths of silence they still sit together on the wall and Bokuto is stunned. 

“Akaashi, what just happened?”

Akaashi snorts and Bokuto’s eyes dart to him. “The girls just saved us from confessions.”

“What?”

Kaori pats Bokuto’s bicep. “Yep. They had a letter for both of you.”

“How did you…?”

Yukie shrugs, having long released Akaashi to let him regain his space. “It was just a guess. Could’ve been wrong.”

“Wooooow!!”

Kaori knocks Bokuto in the shoulder, playfully. “Calm down!” 

“No, you guys  _ saved  _ us. Wow.”

“Bokuto-san, I think we owe them,” Akaashi announces in that voice he uses when he already has a plan and Bokuto just has to jump on board. 

He smiles. “Oh, for sure!” 

“Maybe  _ we  _ could take care of the food shopping for you when the time comes to get the barbecue preparations going?”

Yukie and Kaori both visibly soften. 

“Thanks guys!”

The rest of lunch is spent playing volleyball after Bokuto somehow manages to talk Kaori and Yukie into playing with them across a netless court. Bokuto gives them both two-handed high fives after every bump-serve, whether they make it anywhere near him and Akaashi or not. 

Then Bokuto walks back to class with Akaashi grinning ear to ear, paying special attention to how close their arms are from each other. Can Akaashi feel how close they are? Does it feel the same to him as it does for Bokuto? He feels practically electric beside him, even when neither of them is talking. He’s also hyper-aware of the stares Akaashi is on the receiving end of throughout the halls and he wonders--

“Akaashi?”

“Yes, Bokuto-san?”

“Do you ever get used to everyone staring at you?”

Akaashi chokes lightly, almost tripping and Bokuto instinctively reaches out a hand to steady him. 

“What?”

“You know,” Bokuto says, reluctantly letting his arm fall away from Akaashi. “Everyone’s always watching you wherever you go?”

“No, they’re not.”

“They literally are.”

“Are not.”

“Are too.”

“I’m not doing this with you, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi bites and Bokuto internally heels. “Besides, you’re the one with fangirls. How do you know they’re not staring at you?”

“Because you’re the one that’s  _ so pretty--  _ wait, so you do see that they’re staring?!”

Akaashi rolls his eyes. “Not  _ everyone  _ is staring, Bokuto-san. You’re being dramatic.”

“Basically everyone,” he mumbles in return.

They make it to the intersection in the stairwell that leads to the second year classes unscathed and just as Bokuto starts to move toward the last flight to the third year hall, he hears Akaashi muttering.

“Huh?”

Akaashi’s eyes snap up and Bokuto swallows, instantly uncomfortable for reasons he doesn’t really understand. Maybe it’s how close he hadn’t realized they were or that Akaashi has never looked...shy? Sure, he’s quiet, but he’s not  _ shy _ . 

What… what’s happening?

“Akaashi?” Bokuto dares.

But Akaashi shakes his head. “Nothing, Bokuto-san.”

He watches Akaashi step through the door back into the main building before he heads for the stairs. On the way up, after shaking off the creeping nervousness from whatever just happened with Akaashi, he sneaks another look at his phone, remembering his text to Kuroo and is excited to see that he replied. 

**BRO:** _ NO WAY! Sickkkk bro, i cant wait! Do u know when? _

He types a vague response that it’s pretty soon but leaves it at that since he’s not sure if the dates are final and he doesn’t want Yukie or Kaori mad at him. 

And then his phone buzzes in his hands. 

And he stops. 

**Akaaaaaaaashi Keiji:** _ You think I’m pretty? _

He did not prepare for this. He should have prepared for this? Right?

Maybe. 

But… feelings get so complicated when they stay inside and get all tangled and then he’s not totally sure what he feels anymore or what he’s  _ supposed  _ to feel and he already knows how he feels about Akaashi is pretty… not totally normal. 

So, quickly, before he makes himself late to class, he responds. 

His remaining classes pass by excruciatingly slowly and he tries to take notes good enough to deserve Akaashi’s praise, but it’s really hard to pay attention when he can feel the weight of his cell phone in his pocket where he  _ conveniently  _ left it instead of slipping it back in his bag. He really should pay attention, but he can’t stop his brain from its loop of  _ he hasn’t answered yet _ . 

His fingers tap restlessly on his desk, the skin softly thumping along a too-fast rhythm. 

Aiko makes some smart remark during a break, but Bokuto is only half listening and doesn’t even remember what he mumbled back. 

When the final chime approaches, he’s careful not to pack away his things too quickly -- he’s gotten detention for that more than once since his first year at Fukurodani -- but the second the sound rings overhead, he’s flying out of the classroom. 

Kuroo texted him back. He sees it during his somewhat insane dash across campus to the gym, though no one bats an eye at his escapades while he dodges through the slowly forming crowd of students finding their way home or to after school clubs. Without opening the text, he shoves his phone into his bag, slowing down much too fast right in front of the gym which is met with an amused Kaori who welcomes him inside with a gesture. 

He should probably wait for Akaashi. If he’s last to leave the locker room then it will give them time to talk. That said, Bokuto has never been one for containment or patience, so he’s already halfway changed by the time he’s finished the thought. 

“Whoa, Cap,” Komi says as he strolls in, Washio on his heels. “What’s the rush?”

“KOMI!” Bokuto shouts, running up to the now wide-eyed libero missing his shirt and a kneepad and grabbing him by the shoulders. “I wasn’t flirting with your sister!!!”

Komi’s jaw falls. “Uh. Good to know. I guess.”

Washio chuckles a laugh, slapping him on the back.

“So you’re not mad?” Bokuto says, his words running together as they tumble out.

Komi’s brow falls flat over his eyes and he looks around skeptically. “No?”

“Okay, good,” Bokuto sighs, dropping Komi back to the ground -- wait, when did he pick him up? Oh well. 

“Bokuto-san is never meeting my family,” Konoha says from the doorway and Bokuto almost drops his newly retrieved shirt.

“Awww, why not?”

“He knows his mom will like you more than him.”

Bokuto knows he physically brightens at the sound of that voice.

And the  _ praise _ .

“Now, come on, let’s go, everybody,” Akaashi commands, a feat that’s slowly grown easier for him in recent months. 

They all listen. 

Including Bokuto, only to curse himself once his sneakers squeak on the gym floor. He was supposed to linger. Talk to Akaashi. But nooo. He got distracted. Maybe he could pretend he forgot something? Yeah, that happens. That happens to people all the time.

But then Akaashi emerges in record time and Bokuto deflates. 

But! Akaashi is still nearby.

And Bokuto had a good feeling about today this morning.

So what if he didn’t make it on time for the early morning meeting Yukie wanted? And spaced out or slept in all of his classes today? And made Akaashi late to the lunch meeting by getting distracted with his teammate’s sister? And possibly made him uncomfortable in the process? And might have disclosed semi-confidential information to Kuroo? And told Akaashi how he felt only to be left on read?

Oh.

Wait.

Was today a bad day?

He’d spent most of morning practice talking, made Yukie, Kaori, and Akaashi rearrange their schedules for him, possibly set himself up to fail his classes and therefore be ineligible to play to lead his team, and if he made Akaashi uncomfortable? 

What if Akaashi isn’t going to set for him anymore?

What if they’re not really friends after all? And now he’d made things so awkward.

How was he supposed to lead a team when he made everyone uncomfortable or accommodate his own fuck ups?

What kind of captain was that?

What kind of ace?

“Bokuto-san.”

He tilts his head up from where he’d been blindly staring at the floor. He’d backed himself up against the wall at some point, bent into a low crouch and sitting on his heels. 

“Akaashi?” his voice sounds meek. He hates it.

But there’s Akaashi, standing before him, shoulders back and eyes scanning him in that way he does that makes Bokuto feel like the main character of a Shonen manga -- like he’s studying the plot twists and bracing himself for adventure. 

“Let me toss for you?”

He reaches out a hand. 

All long fingers that Bokuto imagines wrapped around Yukie’s hand and then his hand, the same way he did all through his last subject of the day. 

How can he be good enough to hold that hand after the way he’s dragged Akaashi around all day? Not just today. Every day. 

But just as his head starts to fall, Akaashi sinks onto his heels, dropping a knee between them -- and leaving his hand extended. 

It’s not fair.

Still, he can’t stop himself. 

He places his hand in Akaashi’s gently and the setter wraps their fingers together in a way that’s not only uncomfortable in their position, but really inappropriate if the team happens to be watc--

“I think you’re beautiful, too, Bokuto-san.”

His eyes pop up, aiming straight into the low-lidded stare before him. 

“Akaashi?”

He feels a squeeze on his hand.

“Come on,” Akaashi says. “The team needs you.”

Do they?

“I need you.”

The tension in his shoulders drains away and the room comes back into focus around them. The rest of the team is pointedly ignoring them, running drills on the far court and giving them space. Even Coach Yamiji, Yukie, and Kaori have their backs turned, watching the others. 

So when Akaashi tugs on their hands, Bokuto follows him and they stand together.

Before they rejoin their team, Bokuto squeezes Akaashi’s hand -- just once. 

“Akaashi?”

“Yes, Bokuto-san?”

“Thanks.”

Akaashi smiles as he steps away, their fingers slowly slipping apart as if trying to absorb every last touch. It’s a real smile, not a smirk or the slip of a corner, and Bokuto watches it, entranced. 

“See?”

_ Huh? _

“See what?”

Akaashi’s eyes are alight in a way Bokuto’s never seen before as he backs off toward the others who slowly turn to see their captain and vice captain joining in on practice.

“It’s a good day, Bokuto-san.”

And it’s when Bokuto hits his first spike from Akaashi that he turns to him on the court.

“It’s a  _ great  _ day, Akaashi.”


End file.
